Pair of Belmont Farm Stands Open Weekends This Season

Photo: Farmer Tim’s Vegetables. 

A pair of farm stands – one well established and another starting this year – will be providing Belmont residents with fresh produce for the coming growing season.

Belmont Acres Farm – previously Sergi’s Farm from 1947 to 2011 – is open on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The stand is at 34 Glenn Rd. off Blanchard Road; enter through the main gate on Glenn Road and exit via Taylor Road. Shoppers are asked to leave pets at home as a family dog attacked the farm animals last year. The stand is also open on Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Farmer Tim’s Vegetables is a new farm stand this growing season, open on Sundays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Boston Musicians’ Association’s parking lot at 130 Concord Ave., across from the entry to Belmont High School. Tim Carroll, a long-time Belmont resident who purchased a farm in Dudley, will sell fresh farm vegetables in his hometown from the stand. 

Sold in Belmont: Million-Dollar Plus Colonials (and a Ranch) Return

Photo: Classic Dutch Colonial at 30 Hurd Rd.  

151-153 Beech St., Triple decker (1905). Sold: $905,500. Listed at $ 899,900. Living area: 3,029 sq.-ft. 14 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 bath. On the market: 31 days.

33 Woodfall Rd., A grand brick ranch (1956). Sold: $1,375,000. Listed at $1,349,000. Living area: 2,623 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 56 days.

38 Cowdin Rd., Traditional Cape (1951). Sold: $771,000. Listed at $715,000. Living area: 1,535 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 57 days.

23-25 Beech St., Two family (1890). Sold: $720,000. Listed at $ 715,000. Living area: 2,978 sq.-ft. 13 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 full, 2 half bath. On the market: 54 days.

30 Hurd Rd., Classic Dutch Colonial (1928). Sold: $1,200,000. Listed at $1,079,000. Living area: 2,010 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 full, 2 half bath. On the market: 63 days.

61 Spring Valley Rd., Sort of a ranch/colonial hybrid (1957). Sold: $1,460,000. Listed at $1,549,000. Living area: 3,865 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 5 baths. On the market: 122 days.

19 Highland Rd., Brick/frame Dutch Colonial (1921). Sold: $1,350,000. Listed at $1,299,000. Living area: 3,687 sq.-ft. 11 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 122 days.

17 Knox St., Nondescript (2004). Sold: $928,500. Listed at $939,000. Living area: 2,323 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3 full and two half baths. On the market: 87 days.

Town Clerk Declares Summer Special Town Meeting ‘Will Be Held’

Photo: Ellen Cushman, Belmont Town Clerk. 

Belmont will have a summer Special Town Meeting before the third week in August after Town Clerk Ellen Cushman certified a citizen’s petition submitted by residents who seek to reverse a last-minute change to the $2.8 million Belmont Center Reconstruction Project.

“The train is on the tracks,” said Cushman, referring to the process the town will undertake to schedule the meeting during the middle of summer. 

The meeting will cost taxpayers approximately $5,000 to hire a court reporter, have materials ready and to pay overtime for town employees.  

Cushman said her office certified 284 of the 302 signatures submitted Wednesday, July 8, by residents seeking a non-binding vote by the 300 members of the town’s legislative branch.

The latest the Special Town Meeting can take place was 45 days from Wednesday, on Aug. 21.

It is now up to the Board of Selectmen – the group which prompted the special meeting after approving major changes to the project’s design at a May 28 public meeting which resulted in a counter petition and later a near free-for-all at a subsequent Selectmen’s meeting – to pick a meeting date and sign the warrant. The board will also vote on whether to recommend or reject the article. 

The meeting will be held 14 days or longer once the warrant is signed.

The article’s language Town Meeting will be voting on is the same used on the petition delivered to the town. (see below) Amendments to the article can be submitted up to three days before the meeting. A quorum of 100 members will be needed to call the meeting.

Cushman said the vote – which seeks to return the project to its original design with a prominent Town “Green” and removal of the cut through between Moore Street and Concord Avenue – is, in fact, non-binding. The Selectmen will take the vote “under advisement” and decide at a public meeting whether to follow Town Meeting’s “instruction” or set it aside. 

If there were any thoughts from either camp withdrawing from the anticipated fight on the floor of either the Chenery Middle or Belmont High schools auditorium, the time to do so was before the petition arrived at Town Hall Wednesday.

“This Special Town Meeting will be held,” Cushman told the Belmontonian. 

The petition reads: 

We, the undersigned registered voters of the Town of Belmont, Massachusetts, request that the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Belmont place an article on the Warrant for a Special Town Meeting to read:

“In proceeding with the Belmont Center restoration project, as approved and funded by Town Meeting on November 17, 2014, shall the Board of Selectmen and other Town officials be directed to adhere to the plan represented in the Belmont Center Improvements design documents put out to bid by the Town in January 2015, said documents based on the conceptual plan presented to Town Meeting in the November 2014 Special Town Meeting. These documents shall be used in place of the Board of Selectmen’s revised Belmont Center restoration conceptual plan, adopted unilaterally at a meeting held on May 28, 2015.”

Early Summer Harvest at Belmont Farmers Market

Photo: Early in the season. 

The Belmont Farmers Market is open Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The market is located in the Belmont Center Municipal Parking Lot at the intersection of Cross Street and Channing Road

At the market today, Thursday, July 9:

Weekly vendors: C & C Lobster & Fish, Gaouette Farm, Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery, Dick’s Market Garden, Fior d’Italia, Stillman Quality Meats, Boston Smoked Fish Co., Goodies Homemade, Sfolia Baking Company, Hutchins Farm, Kimball Fruit Farm, Foxboro Cheese Co., Flats Mentor Farm, Nicewicz Family Farm, Westport Rivers Winery

Guest vendors: Carr’s Ciderhouse, Seta’s Mediterranean Food, Spindler Confections, Soluna Garden Farm.

Food Truck: 
Jamaica Mi Hungry.

Performances in the Events Tent
• 4 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: Storytime, sponsored by the library
• 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Sara Fard, music educator and local performer
• 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: Arlington Philharmonic Chamber Players

Tastings in the Events Tent:  Savinos Grill, in Cushing Square, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Belmont Food Pantry:
 The Farmers Market collects non-perishables to help those who use the Belmont Food Pantry. Please bring something to the manager’s tent.

Traffic: Belmont Center construction will affect traffic, but the Market is open.

Belmont Dramatic Holding Auditions for Fall Production

Photo:

Actors all! Your stage is ready, so come play the part!

The Belmont Dramatic Club – second oldest continuously operating and performing community theatre group in the United States – is holding auditions for its fall 2015 production of Tom Stoppard’s “Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoots Macbeth” (includes the “15-minute Hamlet” plus two-minute encore) on Monday and Tuesday, July 27 and 28, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., in the Belmont Town Hall auditorium, 455 Concord Ave. please enter through door that opens onto parking lot).

  • Auditions will consist of readings from the script so please be familiar with it. Perusal copies are available at the refinance desk of the Belmont Public Library and at the Arlington Public Library.
  • Please be prepared to stay for the evening.
  • Bring a resume and, if you have one, a headshot.
  • Please bring to the audition a complete schedule of conflicts.
  • Enter through door that opens onto parking lot).

Callbacks if necessary will be on Thursday, July 30, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Belmont Town Hall.

Rehearsals will be Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., beginning in early September.

Performance dates are:

  • Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday Nov. 15, at 3 p.m.

Go to the BDC website: http://www.belmontdramaticclub.org for character descriptions and other play information. For questions, email the club at cheannwelch@gmail.com

Cardinal Ready: BHS Field Hockey’s Habelow Commits to Louisville

Photo: AnnMarie Habelow.

From the first time AnnMarie Habelow stepped onto Harris Field in the late summer of 2013, spectators could quickly tell the Belmont High School field hockey player was something special. 

In the past two years, the raising junior has demonstrated a rare set of skills for an underclassman, playing as a forward in her freshman campaign or in the midfield last season in which number 13  helped lead the Marauders into the quarterfinals of the Division 1 North Sectionals. 

Just a junior, Habelow’s talents have brought her to the attention of many at the next level of the sport. And one team already wants her to be part of their future as Habelow signed a letter committing to play field hockey at the University of Louisville, beginning in the fall of 2017. 

Ranked 13th in Division 1 at the end of the 2014 season, the Cardinals play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the most competitive league in the nation with six teams in the top 13 spots in the final national poll, including number 1 North Carolina and two-time NCAA runner-up Syracuse.

The league also includes Boston College, which will allow family and friends to see Habelow play in the Boston area at least twice in her career.

Custodians, Cafeteria Workers Strike Three-Year Deal with Schools

Photo: Custodians at work.

The men and women who keep Belmont’s six schools clean and tidy and help feed 4,100 students will be getting a small pay raise after the Belmont School Committee approved a three-year contract with the union representing the workers.

The committee unanimously approved the memorandum of agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) which represents the 33 employees – 18 custodians and 15 cafeteria workers employed more than 20 hours.

The compensation package, retroactive to July 1, 2014 and running through 2017, will see workers receive wage increases of:

  • 0.5 percent as of July 1, 2014,
  • 2.25 percent as of July 1, 2015,
  • 2 percent as of July 1, 2016, and 
  • 0.25 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2017.

The agreement also includes a performance review and how the workers account for snow days. 

Special Town Meeting Petition on Belmont Center Delivered to Town Clerk

Photo: Town Clerk Ellen Cushman counting signatures.

It appears Town Meeting members will have to forego one summer night on the shore or lounging in the back yard after a group seeking to reverse a last-second change to the Belmont Center Reconstruction Project has delivered what they believe is the necessary number of signatures to Belmont’s Town Clerk  this afternoon, Tuesday, July 7, to call a “special.”

Bonnie Friedman of Hay Road presented 302 signatures on a petition to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman who will begin certifying the names. At least 200 signatures from registered voters must be certified for the process to begin. 

Under Massachusetts General Law (MGL 39 §10), a special town meeting must take place by the 45th day after the date of petition is submitted. According to Cushman, with the petition was received by her on July 7, the latest a Special Meeting could take place would be Aug. 21.

The petition was created by Cross Street’s Paul Roberts after the Board of Selectmen made two major changes to the $2.8 million Belmont Center Reconstruction Project some time after major construction began. 

In May, the Board called a public meeting outside its regular schedule to hear from 96-year-old Lydia Ogilby of Washington Street who submitted her own petition that would protect a crop of trees in the center (which had already been chopped down) as well as keep a cut through from Moore Street to Concord Avenue adjacent Belmont Savings Bank. 

The board approved keeping the byway and adding four parallel parking spots next to the bank. The changes left a much heralded “Town Green” located in front of the bank to be reduced to an island surrounded by roadway.

The project design had taken four years to develop under the tutelage of the Traffic Advisory Committee who held a number of public meetings to discuss the project. 

Opposition to the Selectmen’s changes revolved around the vanishing “Green”, increased traffic and a view that the Board had overstepped its authority to make changes to a project which an earlier special town meeting in November 2014 approved the financing based on the finished blueprint. 

An attempt by proponents of the original design to discuss the matter before the Selectmen resulted in a shout-filled brouhaha in which a police officer was called to oversee the meeting.  The next day Roberts began seeking signatures.

The petition reads: 

We, the undersigned registered voters of the Town of Belmont, Massachusetts, request that the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Belmont place an article on the Warrant for a Special Town Meeting to read:

“In proceeding with the Belmont Center restoration project, as approved and funded by Town Meeting on November 17, 2014, shall the Board of Selectmen and other Town officials be directed to adhere to the plan represented in the Belmont Center Improvements design documents put out to bid by the Town in January 2015, said documents based on the conceptual plan presented to Town Meeting in the November 2014 Special Town Meeting. These documents shall be used in place of the Board of Selectmen’s revised Belmont Center restoration conceptual plan, adopted unilaterally at a meeting held on May 28, 2015.”

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Net Metering Working Group Seeking ‘Good Enough’ Solar Incentives

Photo: (from left) Stephen Klionsky, Jake Jacoby and Tony Barnes of the working group and residents Mark Davis, Klaus Becker and Travis Franck.

How much are you willing to pay for your neighbor to use solar power? 

It’s that question likely at the heart of the main recommendation coming from the Temporary Net Metering Working Advisory Group after the newly-formed committee held its inaugural meeting at Town Hall on Monday, July 6.

With a dozen solar power advocates in attendance, the five-member committee (three voting members and two alternates) set its accelerated agenda – with an additional meeting this week and three the next – with a goal of presenting a comprehensive report and recommendation in early to mid-August to the Belmont Light Board made up of the Board of Selectmen. 

“I thought one of our major goals was to convince the community particularly the solar community that we are credible and we have their interests at heart as well as the rest of the town,” Roy Epstein, the committee’s chair, told the Belmontonian at the conclusion of the first assembly. 

The committee was formed by the Light Board last month to make progress on finalizing a solar policy at Belmont Light, according to Board Chair Sami Baghdady 

Epstein said the committee’s ultimate goal is to create a fairly long-term rate policy – a tariff  for solar energy in Belmont – “as expeditiously as we can.” 

The meeting opened with Epstein being elected chair, which caused a stir among many solar advocates as they directly questioned Epstein selection to the committee as he had written a widely-read commentary this year viewed as hostile to advancing their cause.

Epstein – an economist and long-time member of the town’s Warrant Committee – sought to claim skeptics by saying no one could question “the goodwill of the people on this committee (which include fellow voting members Henry “Jake” Jacoby and Stephen Klionsky and associate members Tony Barnes and Robert Gallant) their openness, their receptiveness … and personal integrity so it would be not less than unfair to doubt any of that.” 

Epstein added that the issue of solar power pricing – which has become the most contentious topic in Belmont for the past year – “needs to be defused a little bit” and that would occur through the next two weeks as the committee will seek to effectively deconstruct and reassemble the solar power issue facing Belmont and its municipal electrical utility, Belmont Light. 

To prevent the meetings turning into a debating society, Epstein placed a ban on public discussion until the final 15 minutes of each meeting, a rare show of restraining the populous in Belmont.

Klionsky, a current member of the Municipal Light Advisory Board which has been seen by some as the chief barrier to a progressive solar policy, noted that “it really is unfortunate” the emotion and negative comments over the past year set back progress on the issue. 

The committee appears ready not simply to look at net metering – the billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they send to Belmont Light – which Klionsky called “not the most important topic in terms of climate change” – but also the long-term goals of reducing the town’s overall carbon foot print. 

In coming to a new solar policy, Epstein said they will not follow past initiatives such as the proposed “Phase II” tariff program approved by the Light Board in December but then ditched by the board in April at the insistence of solar power advocates.

“We’re free to propose anything we want” in developing solar policy, said Epstein, seeking to shake off past blueprints “that turned into shouting matches between MLAB and some of the residents,” noted Klionsky.

In one aspect, Epstein agrees with the newest member of the Light Board, Jim Williams, who is the solar proponents staunchest ally, that there is a “board middle” between the two competing sides to establish a new policy.

But just how generous a tariff, or subsidy, should be provided to solar users from Belmont Light and the vast majority of its customers – only 23 residential consumers of 11,000 have active solar panels – who will pay the tariff? 

Solar advocates claim a progressive tariff – calculated by Belmont Light at $25,000 over 20 years under pure net metering without any cost to help with the utilities fix costs – is the best and most efficient approach to promote solar power use in Belmont as up front costs can reach $20,000 to $30,000. 

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The Working Group: (from left) Roy Epstein, Robert Gallant, Stephen Klionsky, Henry “Jake” Jacoby and Tony Barnes.

In Epstein’s view, the committee’s aim is “to inducing some solar without excessive compensation.” 

“The goal for the public is to encourage the use of solar but by the most efficient means possible,” he said, something that is “good enough” for solar proponents. 

While Epstein said he did not want to use the term “cross subsidy” – the practice of charging higher prices to one group  of consumers in order to subsidize lower prices for another group – as it has become a “loaded term,” Jacoby – the William F. Pounds Professor of Management, Emeritus at MIT Sloan School and a leading expert on national climate policies – said “you can call it a banana” but the facts are that a “transfer [of costs] is there.”

Yet reaching a “good enough” level that will satisfy solar advocates remains an open question. While the Working Group is preparing to marshal on with data, many pro-solar advocates view the issues in a social benefit context. 

One solar proponent was upfront with his call for major subsidies for residents who wish to go solar. 

“I find the existence of this group very cynical,” said Selwyn Road’s Mark Robbins, saying that solar renewable energy credits (SREC) – a Massachusetts initiative in which large utilities such as National Grid and Eversource purchase the credits from consumers using solar panels – is the preferred method of encouraging solar usage and not via net metering.

“And what are SREC’s? They’re really cross subsidies from the rest of Massachusetts which cares about climate change to a town that doesn’t,” he said. “These things depend on subsidies. We’re suppose to be subsidizing these things.” 

A nuisance view of the committee’s work from the solar perspectives came from Travis Franck, who said while it is important to have an efficient and reasonable policy, “luckily the working group has a mandate to consider the town’s broader picture not just Belmont Light’s bottom line.”

“There are ways to structure this that will be reasonable for the solar panel owners and good for the average rate payer and could meet the town’s climate change goals,” said Franck, program director for DC-based Climate Interactive.

Epstein said after the meeting from an economic point of view, “the goal is to [incentivize] behavior but only as much as necessary and no more.” 

“I want to present a proposed framework where people are able to tell whether that that incentive exists or not.” 

 

A Trio of Friends’ Lemonade Stand Sells Out on the Fifth of July

Photo: Ava Sullivan, Mitra Morgan and Ariana Sullivan selling lemonade.

By 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, the neighbors were coming back from their July 4th holiday, just about the time that sales at the lemonade stand at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Falmouth Street started picking up.

Manning the operation were 14 year old Mitra Morgan and 13-year-old twins, Ava and Ariana Sullivan. The Sullivan sisters had the idea of selling lemonade – with real lemon slices – and since Morgan was actively raising money “we decided to do both together,” said Ariana. 

Morgan, who will be a freshman at Belmont High School, is raising money for the cheer team which she made during tryouts as a Chenery student.

The trio brought in $32 – at 50 cents a cup – which provided to be a successful afternoon of commerce for the young entrepreneurs. 

“It was really fun. We got to meet our neighbors,” said Ava, who with her sister were homeschooled and will be attending the Chenery in the fall.

One such resident they got to know was Bliss who lives on Falmouth Street and got the final cup of the day after seeing the girls driving home.

“Who doesn’t love lemonade?” she asked. 

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